Munich-based fusion startup Proxima Fusion announced today a €15 million extension to its Series A round, bringing the total financing to €200 million. The fresh capital comes from Italy’s state-backed Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund (EICF), and hedge fund Brevan Howard, building on the €130 million raised earlier this year.
Proxima emerged from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics just two years ago and is heavily investing in stellarators, a less-explored but highly promising approach to magnetic confinement fusion. The startup aims to build the world’s first commercial stellarator-based fusion power plants by the early 2030s.
“Proxima is bringing together public and private partners, developing as a truly European company, uniting expertise, talent, and capital from across the continent. While our roots are in Germany, building on the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, we are building a pan-European team and investor base,” said Proxima co-founder and CEO Francesco Sciortino.
Since closing the initial €130 million, Proxima has grown its team by 20%, reaching 100 employees, and secured major orders for superconducting coils, high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape, manufacturing lines, prototype vacuum vessel sections, and other critical infrastructure needed to build its Stellarator Model Coil (SMC).
The SMC, scheduled for completion in 2027, is a pivotal hardware demonstrator designed to de-risk magnetic confinement magnet technology and stimulate European innovation in HTS.
Alongside hardware progress, Proxima is advancing designs and site selections for its Alpha demonstration stellarator, planned to start operations by 2031 to achieve net energy gain (Q>1), a crucial milestone toward commercial viability.
Proxima’s approach stands out by leveraging a simulation-driven engineering framework that integrates advanced computational modelling with high-temperature superconductors to rapidly optimise stellarator designs: complex 3D magnetic confinement devices that have historically been challenging to build.
Alessandro Scortecci, CIO at CDP Venture Capital, underscored the bigger picture: “Fusion can contribute to technological independence, drive industrial competitiveness, and accelerate carbon-neutral economic growth. We are confident that Proxima will deliver and transform the global energy landscape.”
